I scanned news articles from around the state as well as Ohio, to see how the deaths stack up at Chimney Top. The Forest Service reported that between 1960 and 2005, there were 73 reported deaths in Red River Gorge. 19 of those were via falls from Chimney Top Rock. Over the next 11 years, news outlets report another 4 or 5 from atop the rock, including 3 in 2016 alone. In those 8 years, 12 died in the gorge that were reported in the local news, as well as an additional 2 bodies decayed to just bones were found in the gorge.

Ladies, stop sitting at home looking through your Instagram feed wishing you were “that girl”. BE that girl! Take your adventure into your own hands. If you let fear of the unknown consume you, then you will never know what greatness lies in the outdoors. I believe by properly preparing yourself, there is no destination that cannot be reached by a group of women, or even a woman trekking out into the wild on her own. By preparing yourself, you CAN DO THIS! It's like this; Know your trail. Know your waterway. Know your limits.

We hope your offseason is going well. As we move towards our first race in April, the team here at EKI wanted to highlight some of the changes we made in order to qualify for the series and the class system.

Last month, Explore Kentucky set up a humble little aid station at Mile 78 of the Chris & Amanda Chaney of Ascensionist Events' Red River Gorge Mountain Bike 100—a gnarly upstart 100-mile mountain bike race. Bursting with snacks, water, & EKI Swag, we hunkered down for over 80 racers all day long.

We're excited to announce our partnership with Bluegrass Cellular, a technology company headquartered in Elizabethtown, Kentucky that delivers nationwide cellular services to over one million people across 34 counties in Central Kentucky. To kick off this partnership we're collaborating with Bluegrass to offer four free Smartphone Photography classes led by founder of #ExploreKentucky movement & EKI Director, Gerry James, at select Bluegrass Cellular retail locations.

As we were pulling together the idea for the Kentucky Waterman Series, one of our most ardent supporters of the concept was Pat Dour, owner of Southern Paddlesports; a performance paddlesports company based in Taylorsville, Kentucky.

When your body finally tells you to eat, make your way to one of the gorge’s staple spots. Grab pizza at Miguel’s or a burger at Red River Rock House. Fill your empty stomach and forget to count the carbs, the calories, the grams of sugar in your Ale 8. Meet the people seated with you — the group of businessmen from California, the RRG regulars, the guys who live a neighborhood over from you.